dye

Using men’s boxer shorts as girl’s bloomers or around the house shorts is an easy way to get semi-customized shorts cheap and quick. I saw this idea from Honestly… WTF, originally on Pinterest. Here is their version (click the picture below to go to the post.)

I bought my boxers from Wal-Mart, but I think any clothing store would carry them, my ones came in a three pack. If you want the look above, simple stitch matching white lace to the boxers. Remember to prewash! Especially if the shorts and/or lace are cotton or mostly cotton because they will shrink and might pull at each other funny if they were sewn first. If you wanted a totally no sew pair of shorts, use a product like Stitch Witchery.

Since I had three pairs to work with, I decided to try something a little different and dye one of them bright pink.

On the left are my starting supplies. I used Rit’s powdered dye in Fuchsia. Rit has a ton of dye resources on their website, ritdye.com, including a color formula guide. I decided to use the stove top method to dye my material, since I’ve done it before and I liked the results. I wanted to do a double layer of lace, the larger lace was thrifted and of unknown content. The smaller lace I got from Wal-Mart as well and was 100% cotton. I also threw in an eighth of a yard of unbleached muslin I wanted pink for another project. I didn’t pre-wash the lace, which I should have done, and would definitely recommend you do since my 100% cotton lace shrunk and I wasn’t able to use it.

For more information on the types of dye processes including the stove top method read this, on Rit’s website. Here are my things in the dye bath:

After they had been in the dye bath for 30 minutes, I rinsed them until the water ran clear. I then threw them in the washer with my homemade detergent (recipe here) on a regular cycle. The results were mixed, I’ve read many places that the best attitude when dyeing is to expect nothing, because you never know how they will turn out.

Here are the shorts:

They were 55% cotton, 45% polyester and as you can see, they achieved more of a heather finish.

Here is a comparison of the large lace, which I think must have been 100% polyester or similar synthetic fiber, and didn’t accept the dye very well at all.

Here is the 100% cotton lace, which achieved full color and looked amazing. However, as I already mentioned I measured and cut it before I dyed/washed it. You can tell in the photo the lace shrunk quite a bit and was no longer enough to fit around the shorts.

Lastly here is the unbleached muslin before and after. It took the dye very evenly although wasn’t as vibrant as the 100% cotton lace.

I decided to sew the large lace to the front of the shorts, since I thought that looked nicer. All you need to do is pin the lace where it looks good, and sew it on.

To join the two ends of the lace, I trimmed until there was only a few millimeters of overlap, and hand-stitched the two ends together. I also hand-stitched the crotch opening closed as I want to wear these as around the house shorts. If you were planning to wear yours as bloomers layered under short skirts it wouldn’t matter as much.

Here are the shorts before and after:

I really like them, very cute and feminine for lounging around the house. Another good thing about dyeing, the shorts are now opaque, before dyeing the white fabric was sheer enough to see through. For the other two pairs of boxer shorts I have, I plan on making a plain white lace pair and maybe a black one with lots of lace to wear under some of my sluttier skirts.

Here is a pale pink crocheted top that I bought at the thrift store a while back (original post here).

This shirt was only a couple bucks, and I planned from the start to change it up a bit. Problems with it: 1. Had an ugly matching knit tank top attached to the outer shirt 2. Don’t like the color, with my pale pink skin tone this color blends right it.

The first problem was pretty easy to fix, I just cut off the undershirt. The second problem opened up a whole new avenue for me as I have never dyed anything before. I stood in the dye aisle forever decided what color it should be. I wanted a light and basic color, since I would now be wearing it as a shrug/light sweater over other shirts. Here is what I came away with:

Rit’s color remover, and packets of iDye’s Ecru and Black natural fiber dyes. The plan: Use the color remove to lighten the pink enough to dye it antique white, and if it goes poorly use the black.

There are a myriad of different ways to go about dyeing fabric. My method came straight off the packages. Dissolve the powder in simmering water, add the pre-wetted shirt, add a cup of non-iodized salt and stir constantly for a half hour. Remove the shirt from water and rinse out residual dye, throw in the washer with detergent and your done.

Here are pictures of the color remover doing its stuff, the pink started to leach out immediately. (Check out my sweet thrift store pot, you aren’t suppose to re-use the dye pot for food.)

After the color remover the shirt was a very light yellow color, and I gave it a spin in the washer with some detergent to get the excess product out. iDye’s claim to fame is the packet dissolves in water so you don’t have to risk breathing in toxic dust you just toss it in the water. I tossed it in and stirred for a while to dissolve the powder, but I think some of the plastic hadn’t yet dissolved when I put the shirt in because I got rather splotchy results. The color also came out quite a bit darker than I wanted.

Here are the worst spots:

After a few hours lamenting the results, I repeated the process with my back up plan black dye.

I was very happy with the results, the color is very even and fabric is still very soft. A couple of tips for anyone who wants to dye some fabric using iDye and the stove-top method:

1. Make sure the packet has thoroughly dissolved, it took almost 15 minutes for me to get the black packet to dissolve completely.

2. Watch or listen to something while you are waiting for the dye to work. I watched a PBS documentary on the S.S. Andrea Doria, which was a luxury liner that sank in 1956. It gets real boring stirring soggy clothes.

3. Pick a color that makes sense with your shirt, when the color remover left my shirt pale yellow I should have known that the tan color would end up much darker.